William e



WILLIAM encuen, oF WRENTHAM, MASSACHUSETTS.

Leners Patent No. 79,338, ma .nme' so, '1868.

IMPROVEMENT IN Maestrias @assassine nains,

dat tlgemrlt'teterteh tu in tlgrsr ttttrs tttnt tra mating init ,at tigt smut.

.'lO ALL PESONS TO WHM THESE PRESNTS MAY COME:

Be it known that I', WILLIAM E. GEQRGE, of Wrentham, in thel county of Norfolk, and Stato of Massachuv setts, have invented an Improved Machine for Pressing Hats; and do hereby declare the same to bc fully described in 'thefolloiwing specification, and represented in the accompanying drawings, ,of whichv Figures 1 and 2 are end views, Y vFigure 3 alongitudinal section, and

Figure 4 a cross-section or front-view of the female die an`d its fastenings. The machine hereinafter described, is` analogous to those which are the subjects of the patents, No. 20,837, granted July 6, 1858, to Hiram C. West, and No. 53,083, granted, March 6,1866, to Monroe and A. H. Morse,

4nssignees of Monroe Morse; that is to say, my machinein'volves the main principles ofthe patented machines,

and'contains new, valuable, and important features or improvements, by whielfcertain parts of the machine and n series of. moulds 'and dies are rendered capable of performing the work of' several of the machines, as heretofore constructed and used. This will be more clearly understood from the following' description of my improved machine. y

In thedrawings, A denotes the ilexile or elastic die, and B the mould or female die. C is the steam-chest, hollowl headgor'vesselto'rcceivesteamfor the purpose of heating the mould. This' vessel is formedl with a. an'ge,.a, extending around it at itsopren end. This'iiange projects from the outer curved surface of the vessel, and rearward, and is concentric with an annular recess, 6 in which is placed a packing-ring, c, of vulcanized India rubber or other proper material.

The mouldeB is constructed with a lange, d, to extend from and around it, and rest against such packing. From this flange sundry projections ee e, extend in manner and at equal distances apart, as represented in Figure 5, which is a front view ofthe mould. These'projections areto enter corresponding notchesfff, made in the side of a clampring, E, which encompasses the ange a, of the head 'or heater C, and laps over the'iuner end thereof, in manner as represented. I'

, A male screw, g, is cut on the periphery of the` clamp-ring, so as to screw into an annulus, F, which also encircles thetlange a, and extends down, andrests against its real" side, in manner as shown in the drawings.

"A ring, It, hating a. diameter larger than thlat 'offl the annulus F, is arranged concentricallytherewith, and affixed to it by arms z' 1.' By laying hold of andturningthe hand-ring it around, the screw annulus F will be revolved on the clamp-rng E, and will draw it against the flange of the mould, and set the same closely against the packing-of the mould, so as to make a. steam-tight joint. Y

In the machine of the said Morse, the ilexile or elastic presser, and its ,lexile or elastic diaphragm, are fixed by a series of bolts and nuts directly to the head or' part which supports the sectors and their opera-tive mechanism, many bolts being'requisite to make ati'g'ht joint near the circumference of the diaphragm. This renders the separation ofthe prcsseror elastic die from the head a matter of much laborand time; and as machincs'have -beenmad'e and used heretofore, that is, beorerthe date oflmyI invention, the presser or elastic die has been allowed to remain 'fixed to itshead, only one such die being used with the head.. In carrying out my improvement, I fasten the diaphragm'k and the elastic covering l of the dim-directly to a -iianged annular socket-piece, m, 'separate from the headG, which supports the series of' sectors n n, and the screw o, by which they are'operated or moved.

Figure is a frontview,

Figure 7 an edge View, and g y FigurcS a rear elevation of the die as attached to the solckct-piecc m, which has a circular opening, p, to enable the sectors to como in Contact with thediaphragm c.

The iexile coveringr extends through a flanged annulua, r1, and between its flange and that of thc socket-- piece m, the two flanges being connected by screws r 1' 7', l

From the' flange of the socket-piece m, two tenons, s s, are extended, in manner as represented in figs. 7 and 8. These tenons are to enter corresponding;r hoies made in the head G, and are to be lielchin place by pins passed laterally into the head, and into or through holes "It, made crosswise in the tenons.

The head G is supported on a dove-tailed slide, ll, 'which rests on a bed-plate, I, and between parallel guides u u', raised thereon. The steam-chest C is supported on and by standards v v v, erected in the said base.

Furthermore, twoscrews w 'w are extended from and screwed into .the iiange of the steam-chest. The heads of these screws, when the mould and die are in conjunction, enter corresponding sockets a: made in the head Gr, and are held thereto by two bolts y, connected with two levers z z, jointed together, and arranged in manner es represented.

lith my invention, one head G. with its sectors and their operative screw, as shown in the drawings, and one steam-chest, will suilicc for any number of moulds and dies, however these latter may vary in their forms in these parts of them 'by which a hat while being pressed is shaped. The removal and fixatim of any die o r mould from the head to t'hcsteain-chest, is a matter, th'e performance of which will consume but little time and labor. .lhe Morse machine requires a separate steam-chest and pressing to every mould and its die, and as the die is fastened to the head by many bolts, it becomes 'unprotable and injurious in practice to remove it. For such or other reasons, the mould must be separated from the steamfchest.,

The advantages of my improved machine over that of the said Morse may be thus illustrated:

It' we suppose a hat-presser or manufacturer of straw goods to receive, as is thccommon practice, an order for several hundred hats, some of which shall be of one form, and others of various other forms,there being in the lot twelve kinds.

To comply with this order by the machine of Morse, would require the hatter to have twelve of such machines, but to accomplish the order by my invention, but one machine or steam-chest and pressing-mechanism, and twelve moulds, and the dies thrcrefor, would be required, thereby saving the expense of, eleven steam-chests, eleven heads and pressing-mechanisms, besides the room which would be taken up by the employment of them.

What, therefore, I claim as my invention, is as follows: i

I claim the combination and arrangement of the socket-piece m, thc head G, the diaphragm lc, the elastic covering Z, and flanged ring q of the die, the said sockctpicce m and anged ring g being connected, substant'ially as described. y y

And for use with the steam-chest C, when combined with a mould and die, and mechanism forforcing the die into the mould for the purpose of pressing a hat, I claim the combination,substantially as decribed, forfastening a mould, B, to the mouth of the steam-chest, the same' consisting of the flange a, the annulus F, the clamp-ring E, the screws g, the projections c, (of the lange d,) and notchesf et the said ring, the whole being arranged in manner, and to operate substantially as described.

I claim the combination of the presser or elastic die withthe head Gr, by the tenons s, their pins and holes,

the same being so arranged as to enable the said presser or die to he readily rem'oved from the head G, without disturbing che connection oi' the 'diaphragm and the elastic covering of thc presser.

WILLIAM E. GEORGE.

Witnesses:

R. H. EDDY, F. P. HALE, Jr. 

